Because pneumocystis organisms are difficult to cultivate in vitro and difficult to separate from host lung tissue, little is known about the antigenic structure of this organism. In this project, a technique for separating pneumocystis from host tissue has been developed, and gels of crude organism preparation are being assessed. Antigens characteristics of murine and human pneumocystis are being characterized by PAGE and immunoblotting. It has been shown that human pneumocystis differs from murine pneumocystis. The importance of this work is that antigen characterization is essential to understanding the determinants of immune response and to developing new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
